Portuguese (Portugal) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "contente" in Portuguese (Portugal)?

Q: How do you pronounce contente in Portuguese (Portugal)?

contente is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written kõ.ˈtẽ.tɨ. It means “happy.” Say "kong-TENG-tuh", with two nasal vowels and a nearly-swallowed final syllable.

Say "kong-TENG-tuh", with two nasal vowels and a nearly-swallowed final syllable.

contente kõ.ˈtẽ.tɨ

Stress falls on the middle syllable "ten"; both "con" and "ten" carry nasal vowels, and the final "te" reduces almost to nothing.

Listen: contente

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Sound it out

con A nasal "o", similar to the "on" in French "bon", not a full oral "con" as in English "contact".

ten The stressed syllable — nasal "e", with a true dental t (not the Brazilian "tch" sound before this vowel).

te Reduced almost to silence — a light "tuh" rather than a clear "teh".

Hear it in a sentence

Estou muito contente hoje.

I am very happy today.

Listen: Estou muito contente hoje.

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"Estou muito contente hoje" uses "estar" (estou) because happiness here is a current emotional state rather than a permanent trait — the classic ser/estar distinction, and "estar" is almost always correct for emotions. "Contente" has the same form for masculine and feminine subjects. This is a common, slightly more formal alternative to "feliz" for expressing happiness.

Where English speakers slip

The trap here is treating "ten" like the English word "ten" with a clear oral vowel — in Portuguese it must be nasalized, and skipping that can make the word unintelligible to native ears. Also, EP speakers reduce the final "te" much further than Brazilian speakers typically do, so don't over-pronounce that last syllable if you're used to Brazilian audio.